sunlit
by Sherry Belmont
Summary: ReiRin — (It is only somewhat a secret that Rin is surprisingly sentimental and—well—a complete sap.) The quieter afternoons are the best. — RinRei Week Day 6


ᴀᴜɢᴜsᴛ⁞×

[_sunlit_]

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The quieter afternoons are the best.

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a romantic spin on what would intuitively be a sexual prompt because that is my mood today. for **RinRei Week** Day 6: First Times.

i don't own **Free!**.

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Rin doesn't wake up expecting to feel great, and he doesn't. There's a ghost of a headache threatening to worsen and he's late for even his second—and last—lecture; he's skipping it, then.

The crappy curtains in his apartment only filter the harsh sunlight into an ethereal glow instead of keeping it out entirely. It's still too bright and there is no way he can go back to sleep.

Fridays are always like this.

If Rin were more of a romantic he might stop to admire the dust sparkling in the air lit by the sliver of natural light coming through the crack between the drapes or the way his room is overlaid with a beige-coloured tint. The laminated world map on the wall by his bed is peeling off again and his desk is still messy from the studying he'd done late last night—no, early this morning. His room smells vaguely of old wood and laundry and perhaps a permanent hint of chlorine.

Rei would appreciate this beautiful atmosphere, the look of Friday afternoon.

Speaking of his boyfriend, last night Rin had brought up the idea of Rei visiting over the weekend. The younger male expected to be free—for once—and Rin never really has anything important to do over the weekend anymore.

(His friends all live a little too far for visits and a little too close to miss.)

And so Rin looks forward to Rei's visit more than he can easily admit and more than he should considering that the last few times they had tried to arrange something of the sort, their plans had fallen through.

He starts to clean his room and manages to neaten up his desk by the time his cellphone rings.

"Asjdksf—!" Rin covers his face even as he picks up his phone; the ringtone is a sweet love song, something he associates with the feelings he has for a certain swimmer boyfriend of his. It's embarrassing to hear and embarrassing that he enjoys hearing it.

"Rin-kun?"

Disappointing—Rin-san had become Rin-kun had become Rin but sometimes Rei reverts to Rin-kun and it's wholly unsatisfying.

"What," the redhead grunts.

There's a smile in Rei's response. "I just wanted to call to remind you that I will be arriving at your apartment in approximately an hour." Rei's voice is distorted with static but the tone and the syntax is still so overwhelming _Rei_ that Rin is too occupied with listening to it to register the younger man's words at first.

"Ye—yeah. Obviously I remembered," he rolls his eyes reflexively, "Call me again when you're actually here."

"I will," Rei says lightly.

"Okay. Well, bye." Rin hurriedly hangs up, flustered.

He's holding his face again, holding his breath to hold in the stupid grin that's threatening to surface, the bubble of laughter tickling the inside of his chest.

He likes Rei a lot—so much.

With this thought on his mind, Rin picks up where he left off, straightening book spines and tucking loose papers into drawers until his workspace is neat and clean the both he and his boyfriend prefer it.

He manages to get his small kitchen tidied up—not that there had been much of a mess there in the first place—before his phone rings again, twelve minutes earlier than he'd expected.

Cleaning had put him in an easier mood and Rin actually allows himself to sing along to the tune for a few seconds before he picks up.

"You here?" He strides to his window, wondering if he can see Rei in the parking lot.

"Yes. Um. At your door."

Indeed, Rei's voice is coming from both Rin's right ear and, slightly muffled, from the other side of his apartment door. Rin hangs up in surprise.

The walk to the door is much quicker, Rin's eagerness to see Rei pushing the former forward like wind at his back. He swings the door open with every intention of questioning how the hell Rei got into the building but then he's faced with a shy smile and blue hair and glasses and—

From inside Rin's strong embrace, Rei chuckles. "Well, I suppose this is one way to say hello."

The redhead freezes and coughs, pushing himself (gently) backwards. "I'm. You looked huggable," he offers, not meeting Rei's eyes.

Rei smiles. He pushes up his glasses in the practiced motion Rin insists is adorable and says, "It was enjoyable. Will I be invited inside—Rin?"

The reward he gets for leaving off the honorific is a happy glint in Rin's eyes. Rin expression falls into his familiar, easy grin.

"Nah, but come in anyway."

He almost leads Rei in by the hand but he doesn't and then—fuck it—he does. There's something about the intimacy of Rei's hand in his that Rin has always loved.

(It is only somewhat a secret that Rin is surprisingly sentimental and—well—a complete sap.)

The largest room in the tiny apartment is the bedroom, and this is where the two go. Rei politely seats himself at the desk chair like he belongs there, as if he's a necessary fixture in Rin's home. It looks so right that Rin has to bite his lip to keep himself from voicing the thought. Rin sits on his bed, crumpling the duvet he'd made in a rush just an hour or two ago.

"So—" Rin starts, before cutting himself off.

Rei nods, amused. "So."

The older male shakes his head furiously before leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees, his head turned away from Rei just enough that Rin can watch the other male in his peripheral vision. "Never mind," he mumbles, content to simply look.

There are blue tones in Rei's hair and his eyes are violet; they are cool colours but the sun is bathing Rei's silhouette with a warmth that takes Rin's breath away. The light comes from behind, soaks Rei's side and beckons Rin closer. Though he is fluent in both, Rin cannot find a way to string together the words in either Japanese or English to accurately describe the overwhelming emotion that is washing over him.

He wonders if this is how Haruka feels about water. Rin forgives Haruka, then, for the instances he doesn't actually hold against the other male—for every time Haruka has embarrassed Rin by being so incredibly fixated on something that others just cannot understand.

This is his realization: he cannot take his eyes off of the curve of Rei's cheek or the way it glows softly in the sunlight. He does not want to. What he does want is to stare at his boyfriend until every detail of Rei is associated with this feeling, until the sight of Rei becomes pure happiness.

"The expression on your face right now," Rei says quietly, "is beautiful."

Rin realizes that, for the first time, he feels he's in love.

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i think i'm in it.

i have fridays like this but my room doesn't look quite so pretty.

being into free! reminds me that i technically know how to swim all the strokes, it's just been...eight years. laughs i know how to swim butterfly—not well—but i can't tread water.


End file.
